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Using phonemic awareness strategies to increase fluency

Research Question. How does the use of Elkonin boxes as a phonemic awareness strategy improve blending and fluency scores of first grade English learners?

Subquestion. To what extent does the use of repeated reading increase fluency?

Research Activities. This study explored the effectiveness of several phonemic awareness strategies including Elkonin boxes, blending, and repeated reading on fluency scores.

Context. This study occurred in a 1st grade classroom composed of 17 students of which 10 were English learners. The intervention focused on 6 students who struggled with reading fluency. Of the 6 students, 5 were English learners whose primary language was Spanish. Instructional Approach. Strategies along with activities implemented throughout the intervention catered to the needs of the focus students. Elkonin boxes, blending worksheets, along with Open court decodables were utilized during the intervention. The duration of the intervention was 3 weeks within which the various strategies were implemented. Data collection. Data sets included 6–8 week Open Court reading assessment, pre and post oral reading survey, and Basic Phonics Skills Test. Findings and Conclusions. Results showed that a progression of opportunities that included teacher modeling, students joining with the teacher and then the students' independent practice of the blending through repeated reading seemed to positively influence fluency scores. In addition, Elkonin boxes were effective in terms of targeting specific skills, isolated letter/sound knowledge, applied to blending in words through multiple modalities supported the increase in fluency scores.

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